Germany seeks fourth win at Euro 2012

May 11, 2012

The German national football team is set to compete for a chance to take home the title at the European Championships this year. The Times of India reports Germany has won the competition three times before - in 1972, 1980 and most recently in 1996. Their path has been successful thus far, having won all 10 qualifying matches.

"We have many young players who have never played in a big tournament," coach Joachim Loew told the news source. "It's a similar situation to the 2010 World Cup. An advantage is that our foundation is better than in 2008 or even 2010, with our philosophy now solidified over the past two years. We have a very balanced squad with a good age structure."

On June 9, Germany will take on Portugal in the first round of matches. Loew expressed worry to Sports Illustrated about two major players, striker Miroslav Klose and defender Per Mertesacker as neither player has gotten in much practice time leading up to the games.